Low Profile Biodiesel or Natural Gas Semi to Hit Road

John Davis

walmartsemi1It’s a pretty cool looking design (although I’m not sure how my friends in the trucking industry would take to being inches from the roadway). And what makes it even cooler is the fact that a new concept semi from Walmart would be able to run on alternative fuels, including biodiesel or natural gas. This blog post from the company story says the new truck debuted at Walmart’s Global Sustainability Milestone Meeting.

We’re just beginning formal testing, but this Walmart Advanced Vehicle Experience (WAVE) concept truck will be 20 percent more aerodynamic than our current trucks and have a micro-turbine hybrid powertrain that can run on diesel, natural gas, biodiesel and probably other fuels still to be developed. It may never make it to the road, but it will allow us to test new technologies and new approaches. I share it because it gives you a sense of how sustainability is helping us see things in new ways.

WAVE was just one of the innovations we discussed at our Sustainability Milestone Meeting on Monday. We also talked about new ideas around less photogenic topics like air filters, buttons, and even landfills. By seeing through the lens of sustainability, we are accelerating the pace of innovation across our business.

With about 7,000 vehicles in its truck fleet, let’s hope Walmart keeps riding low with biodiesel and natural gas.

Biodiesel, Natural Gas

Fuel Made from Shopping Bags Fits with Biodiesel

John Davis

plasticdiesel1Fuel made from plastic shopping bags could cut down on the amount of waste going into landfills and be a good fit to mix with biodiesel. This story from the University of Illinois says researchers at the school have found a way to turn the abundant litter into fuel.

The conversion produces significantly more energy than it requires and results in transportation fuels – diesel, for example – that can be blended with existing ultra-low-sulfur diesels and biodiesels. Other products, such as natural gas, naphtha (a solvent), gasoline, waxes and lubricating oils such as engine oil and hydraulic oil also can be obtained from shopping bags.

There are other advantages to the approach, which involves heating the bags in an oxygen-free chamber, a process called pyrolysis, said Brajendra Kumar Sharma, a senior research scientist at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center who led the research. The ISTC is a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois.

“You can get only 50 to 55 percent fuel from the distillation of petroleum crude oil,” Sharma said. “But since this plastic is made from petroleum in the first place, we can recover almost 80 percent fuel from it through distillation.”

The researchers blended up to 30 percent of the plastic bag-based with regular diesel and had no compatibility problems with biodiesel.

An estimated 100 billion plastic shopping bags are thrown out each year in the U.S. alone. That could make for a pretty hefty feedstock for this fuel.

Biodiesel

California to Consider Updating ILUC for Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

carb-14The California Air Resources Board (ARB) is holding two public workshops regarding the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) this week – one to discuss general updates to the LCFS regulation, and the second to discuss updates to the indirect land use change (iLUC) values. Stakeholder feedback is being solicited for both workshops.

The board will discuss a proposal to update iLUC values for corn ethanol, sugarcane ethanol, and soy biodiesel, as well as proposed iLUC values for canola biodiesel, sorghum ethanol, and palm biodiesel.

According to a staff concept paper released prior to the meeting, based on recommendations provided by an Expert Working Group, “(p)reliminary results indicate reductions in the iLUC values for soy biodiesel, sugarcane ethanol, and corn ethanol.” The paper states that ARB staff “contracted with experts to refine and improve the iLUC analysis” and as a result “has incorporated significant changes in the estimation of iLUC for biofuels.”

Among the model and data updates that were included in the new estimates are re-estimated energy sector demand and supply elasticity values; improved treatment of corn ethanol co-product (DDGS); improved treatment of soy meal, soy oil, and soy biodiesel; modified structure of the livestock sector;improved method of estimating the productivity of new cropland; adopting a consistent model version and set of model inputs for all biofuel pathways; and revised yield and demand responses to price.

The question is whether the reduction for corn ethanol will be significant enough to be what the industry believes is closer to reality. Some scientists consulted by CARB believe that they are still not using the most updated modeling methods to determine iLUC and that analyses conducted since the LCFS was adopted in 2009 show emissions for corn ethanol are less than half what was estimated at the time.

The adjustments will be presented by staff at the iLUC workshop, scheduled for Tuesday, March 11, from 1:00 – 5:00 pm.

Biodiesel, biofuels, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Indirect Land Use, Low Carbon Fuel Standard

Clean Jobs Increase 19% in 2013

Joanna Schroeder

Ecotech Institute Clean Jobs IndexThe Clean Jobs Index shows 2013 ended with a 19 percent increase in clean jobs. The study also shows more than 3.5 million clean jobs were available in 2013 with a 57 percent increase in solar jobs. Published by Ecotech Institute, the Clean Jobs Index was created to provide objective job information about the renewable energy industry. In addition, the index looks at various sustainability factors including alternative fueling stations, LEED projects and total energy consumption across the U.S.

The index found large growth in clean jobs when compared to 2012 job postings, with solar jobs increasing 57 percent, wind jobs up 20 percent and renewable energy jobs increasing 9.3 percent. The report also looked at states with the most incentives for sustainability and renewables: Minnesota, California, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Indiana, Colorado, Florida, New York and Iowa.

“Renewable energy is the future and this data proves that more than ever,” said Kyle Crider, Ecotech Institute’s Program Chair and Manager of Environmental Operations. “With solar jobs up 57 percent and clean tech jobs up overall nearly 20 percent, it’s definitely an exciting time in the sustainable energy industry.”

Alternative energy, Clean Energy, Solar, Wind

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFSunEdison along with Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, National Bank of Arizona (NB|AZ), and Sol Systems have announced a $50 million fund to build a 13.4 megawatt (MW) solar portfolio for the State of California prison and hospital systems.
  • AltCar Expo, a forum for green car ride and drive, public education and demonstration of the latest green technology vehicles, will take place March 14 – 15, 2014 at Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, California. Showcasing the area’s largest selection of electric, hydrogen, natural gas, propane and hybrid vehicles in one location with accompanying rebate and infrastructure information, the AltCar Expo is free and open to the public. AltCar will be providing the first public opportunity to test drive the Honda FCX Clarity: a sleekly styled hydrogen fuel cell powered sedan propelled by an electric motor that runs on electricity generated in a fuel cell, while only emitting water.
  • Greenwood Biosar, a joint venture between Greenwood Energy and Biosar formed to provide engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, has completed design and construction of a 2.4-megawatt (MW) solar PV project in Panama’s Herrera Province for Enel Green Power Panama. The solar array is located nine miles from the city of Chitre, is Panama’s first utility-scale solar PV installation, and can provide 30 percent of the surrounding area’s electricity demand – equivalent to 2,600 homes. The project has now been interconnected to the La Empresa de Generacion Electricita grid network.
  • Vestas has won a contract from BWP Eider for a 72.6MW citizen-owned wind power project in Germany. Under the contract, Vestas will supply 22 of its V112 3.3MW turbines for the wind farm located in the region of Eider in Schleswig-Holstein. The deal also covers installation and commissioning of the turbines along with a VestasOnline Business SCADA solution as well as a 15-year full-scope service agreement. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2014 and the wind farm is expected to becommissioned in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Bioenergy Bytes

The Rise of E85

Joanna Schroeder

The latest edition of Today in Energy follows the rise of E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gas). According to the Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC), Minnesota leads the nation with 336 E85 retail locations, while states outside the Midwest are adding E85 stations most quickly. Today, 2 percent of all retail stations in the U.S. offer E85 serving 5 percent of the U.S. light-duty vehicle market, including flex fuel vehicles (FFVs) that can use E85.

In 2007, the majority of E85 stations were located in Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin: the same states leading the nation in corn-ethanol production. Today, these states continued to add E85 stations while California, New York, Colorado, Georgia E85 retail stations by stateand Texas added 49 E85 stations through 2013. As a result, the share of nationwide E85 stations in the five traditional ethanol-producing states of the Midwest fell from 54 percent in 2007 to 36 percent in 2013.

California and New York have seen some of the fastest growth in new E85 fueling stations, increasing from fewer than a dozen stations combined in 2007 to more than 80 stations each in 2013. Only two states (New Hampshire and Alaska) currently have no E85 fueling stations, compared to nine that had none of these stations in 2007.

Growth in the number of E85 fueling stations has slowed in the past two years. The number of E85 fueling stations in the country nearly doubled between 2007 to 2011, from 1,229 to 2,442, but only increased by 7 percent from 2011 to 2013, when the total reached 2,625. Notwithstanding the increase in the number of retail outlets selling E85 since 2007, the vast majority of the nation’s approximately 156,000 retail motor fuel outlets do not offer E85.

biofuels, E85

Biodiesel, Propane Expect Big Growth in Trucks

John Davis

greentrucksummitJust because they’re big rigs doesn’t mean they have to be big polluters. Truckers and trucking interests have gathered this week in Indianapolis for the annual NTEA Work Truck Show and the Green Truck Summit being held in conjunction with the event. This article from FleetOwner.com says biodiesel and propane were talked as having some big growth potential in the trucking world.

“The vision of the U.S. biodiesel industry is to see 5% of the petroleum diesel used replaced with biodiesel by 2015 and 10% by 2022,” advised Jennifer Weaver, OEM Outreach & education program specialist for the National Biodiesel Board.

“That 5% alone would equal 1.88 billion gallons of biodiesel,” she continued, noting that “2013 was a banner year for biodiesel and the momentum is with it going into 2014.

And looking out to 2040, Weaver said by then “diesel will account for 70% of the growth in demand for all transportation fuels.”

Meanwhile, Tucker Perkins, chief business development officer for the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), sees propane autogas as “the little engine that could” as it is being adopted by more private and municipal fleets.

“Propane autogas is not a Class 8 fuel,” he hastened to add. “It’s primarily going into light-duty pickups and vans and is moving into the medium-duty market mostly in school buses but the future includes medium-duty trucks as well.”

Perkins added that propane can be stored at a low pressure as a liquid and infrastructure costs are pretty minimal for an operation.

Biodiesel, Propane

Neste’s Aviation Biofuel Wins Sustainability Award

John Davis

nesteairplane1Dutch refiner Neste Oil has won an award for its sustainable aviation biofuel. This company news release says the Sustainable Bio Award comes for its work with Neste’s Dutch partners on their joint initiative, Bioport for jet fuels in the Netherlands.

Launched in November 2013, the initiative is designed to promote the deployment of sustainably produced biofuels in the aviation sector. In addition to Neste Oil, the initiative has been signed by KLM, SkyNRG, Schiphol Airport, the Port of Rotterdam, the State Secretary of Infrastructure and the Environment, and the Minister of Economic Affairs. Neste Oil’s role in the initiative is to explore the opportunities for producing renewable aviation fuel on a continuous basis and scaling up production.

The Sustainable Bio Award competition recognizes innovations that promote the development of sustainably produced biofuels and bio-products. Joint initiative received the top award in the Collaboration of the Year category.

Neste’s NEXBTL renewable aviation fuel, made from vegetable oil and waste oil feedstocks, enables airlines to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and has been tested successfully on commercial flights.

aviation biofuels, Biodiesel, International

South Dakota to Include 15% Ethanol in State Fleets

Cindy Zimmerman

South Dakota will soon begin incorporating 15 percent ethanol (E15) fuel into its state vehicle fleet.

sd-govGovernor Dennis Daugaard announced Thursday that E15 will be made available this year during a test period at four major fuel sites in Brookings, Pierre, Rapid City and Sioux Falls. The state will utilize E15 for flex fuel vehicles and some of its newer non-flex fuel models that are approved for E15 use. Flex fuel vehicles make up over 58 percent of the fleet or 1,950 vehicles. Currently, the state fueling sites primarily provide E10 fuel for fleet vehicles.

“South Dakota is a large ethanol producer, and our state has significantly benefited from the ethanol industry,” said Daugaard. “The goal is to use more of our homegrown fuel by using E15, the newest fuel in the marketplace.”

South Dakota is the fifth largest ethanol producing state in the nation, producing about a billion gallons per year, an industry worth about $3.8 billion. It is also home to POET, one of the world’s largest ethanol production companies, based in Sioux Falls. “We are excited to hear Governor Daugaard’s desire to incorporate E15 into South Dakota’s state vehicle fleet,” POET President and CEO Jeff Lautt. “This is a no-cost means to create new jobs, stimulate the economy, secure our nation and improve our environment.”

Also located in South Dakota is the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE). “Gov. Daugaard is providing tremendous leadership and vision by encouraging the use of E15 in the state’s vehicle fleet, a move which will support South Dakota’s farmers and ethanol industry,” said Ron Lamberty, ACE senior vice president.

The governor’s office says the testing period for E15 will run about six months, after which the state will evaluate how the use of the E15 blend affected the fleet and determine how to efficiently utilize ethanol in the future. “We are confident state employees will find E15 a safe, reliable and affordable fuel choice,” said Lamberty.

ACE, E15, Government

Veterans Move Into Solar Industry Jobs

Joanna Schroeder

According to a new report released jointly from Operation Free and The Solar Foundation, veterans are employed within the solar industry at higher than average rates. The report finds that for a group facing high unemployment, the solar industry is one of the best industries for jobs.

The report, Veterans in Solar: Securing America’s Energy Future, highlights the contributions of veterans to the solar industry, using data derived from The Solar Foundation’s annual National Solar Jobs Census 2013. The findings show that America’s Veterans in Solarsolar industry has grown by 500 percent since 2008, providing more than 13,000 veterans with job opportunities as of November 2013. Veterans represent nearly 10 percent of all solar workers at a time when more than 15 percent of veterans aged 18-24 are currently unemployed. The report also discovered that the growth in the industry is continuing with nearly 62 percent of solar companies that employ veterans plan to add more solar workers within the next 12 months.

Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52), said of the news, “Our servicemen and women have made great sacrifices for our country and it is our responsibility to ensure that when they return home there are high-skill and well-paying jobs available. The solar industry offers our veterans a unique opportunity to use the knowledge they learned serving our country in a rapidly growing sector that is vital to both our national security and economic future.”

According to Operation Free and The Solar Foundation, this is the first time that the significant contributions of veterans to the solar industry have been documented. The two groups intend to amplify these findings in an effort to help more veterans enter into careers in the solar industry.

“This report highlights the ways solar strengthens the US economy and our national security,” added Nat Kreamer, CEO of Clean Power Finance and a former Intelligence Officer, Special Forces, US Navy. “Veterans are over represented in the solar industry because we know first-hand that clean, affordable domestic power makes America and the world safer.”

In addition to examining employment numbers, the report also suggests next steps to expand opportunities for veterans, including the creation of a tool for employers to translate veterans’ skills into language reflecting solar companies’ hiring needs.

Alternative energy, Research, Solar